(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to home machine sewing and embroidery
(2) Description of Related Art
Home sewing machines have always been equipped with a vertical spindle to handle spools of level-wound thread. Such spools commonly rotate when in use, thus feeding thread radially. With the advent of the home embroidery and combination sewing/embroidery machines, cross-wound thread has come to the fore. Spools of cross-wound thread do not commonly rotate when in use, and thread is fed axially. It is now the norm on current embroidery-only machines for the primary spindle(s) to be horizontal and on sewing/embroidery machines for an ancillary spindle to be provided for use with level-wound thread. Also, in these machines the bobbin-winder spindle is mounted vertically on the top of the machine, and often the ancillary spindle is merely pushed over the bobbin-winder spindle. Thus, all machines have or can be provided with a vertical spindle of approximately ¼″ diameter and approximately 2″ height.
It has also become common for machines to have a hinged cover which must be opened to access the horizontal spindle(s) in order to sew/embroider. Many of these machines incorporate diagrams or instructions on the inside of the cover and the covers frequently not easily removable, thereby requiring thread stands residing behind the machine to have very tall thread guides in order for the thread coming from the stand to clear the cover. This, therefore, requires the operator to stand up or close the cover in order to see the color of thread next to be used and increases the thread path to the point where operators are reluctant to snip the thread, but instead stop and rewind the excessive path length of thread to the spool. If snipped at the machine's internal thread path entry point, the thread is not wasted but the end still attached to the spool risks entanglement with other such snipped threads. There are also thread stands that fasten to the machine but still but behind it, thus imparting the same or similar problems for the operator. Moving the thread stand to the side of the machine does not solve this problem but increases the thread path and consumes the already small table area normally crowded with pins, scissors, and other sewing accoutrements.
Modern sewing/embroidery machines can make use of many colors for a single design. The machine stops after embroidering a color, then the operator must thread the next color, so the proximity and clear view of the spools of thread is more important than ever.
As with Hrobar, U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,302, and Holder, U.S. Pat. No. 6,328,254, devices have been made to adapt non-standard or commercial spools to the vertical spindle of the home sewing machine, but none have addressed the use of multiple spools of standard home or non-commercial thread. At least one manufacturer has a carousel that sits adjacent to the machine on the sewing table, but it has a single tall thread guide, therefore making it imperative that the thread last used be rewound on its spool or otherwise stowed or removed from the carousel prior to feeding the next thread, else risk entanglement in the machine's balance wheel. Bruffett, U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,485, typifies the multiple-spool feature of a number of thread stands which provide a means of feeding a selected thread to the thread path of the machine, but which reside behind or beside the machine. The thread path and sight problems described in the preceding paragraph apply here.
Thread stands attached to the machine by a bracket will not support themselves when removed from the machine, and self-supporting thread stands must be heavy enough to resist toppling. This makes them unsuitable for being carried to the thread cabinet or other spool storage device where thread selection is usually made. Those residing beside the machine must have a long thread guide as well as the necessity for some weight, making it necessary to remove the guide or risk bending or breaking it if the entire assembly is carried to the thread cabinet.